


Aphrodite's Gift

by YesBothWays



Series: Xena and Gabrielle Forever [5]
Category: Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: Dildos, F/F, Femslash, Greek Mythology - Freeform, strap-on sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-28
Updated: 2015-10-28
Packaged: 2018-04-28 14:18:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5093843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YesBothWays/pseuds/YesBothWays
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aphrodite gives Xena and Gabrielle a gift in the fashion of the Goddess of Love.  When the opportunity finally arrives, they try it.  The Goddess indeed knows her stuff.  This story takes place after the stories "Healing" and "Growing," before "Choosing," and in the same world as "Returning to Life" and "Untouched By The Hands Of Man."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aphrodite's Gift

**Author's Note:**

  * For [firewings86](https://archiveofourown.org/users/firewings86/gifts), [dadrielle (snappilier)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/snappilier/gifts).



> This story is mainly for dadrielle, whose lovely messages got me to finally write it, and firewinsg86, whose enthusiasm has created fountains of mirth in my soul. I'm sorry it took so long! My best excuse is that I was working my other writing. I can go to my grave an honest person now.

            Gabrielle was kneeling down and washing her face in a still lake in the fragmented light of late evening, when Aphrodite popped up behind her.  She was so used to the unearthly silence of Xena's approaches, she did not even start, though her hand touched the staff at her side on instinct. 

"Well," Aphrodite said with great pomp.  "How did it go?  You don't have to give me the details, just a general review is fine.   Don't be shy about how good it was, though.  I _am_ the Goddess of Love, you know." She waited over a grin. Gabrielle stared at her with her face dripping for a moment, before she turned away and wiped her face.

            "How did what go?" Gabrielle asked, as she stood up. 

            "My gift," Aphrodite said, as she grew petulant and annoyed. She narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth wide in deep antipathy upon seeing Gabrielle's uncomprehending face. "Girl, when the Goddess of Love gives you a present, you better trust that it's worthwhile to check it out.  I'm not saying I know you'll like it.  But I know you'll like it.  I mean, I may get a little confused sometimes about all this other stuff that's going on, but I know my work."

            "Aphrodite," Gabrielle said, "Do you want to tell me what you're talking about?" Aphrodite waved her hand in a dismissal. 

            "Girl, your Warrior Princess is holding out on you.  Shake that woman down, honey, for serious." She promptly disappeared. Gabrielle gave a small laugh and shook her head, when Aphrodite had gone.

            Gabrielle came back to camp to find Xena sorting through one of the their saddle bags. Her look caught a moment on Gabrielle's, noticing already her change in mood.   Gabrielle wondered how much she already guessed about the conversation she had just had.  Xena feigned casualness, as she continued her task.

            "Guess who I just saw," Gabrielle said.

            "Narcissus," Xena said. 

            "Close," Gabrielle said.  "Aphrodite." Xena looked at her. "Are you keeping a secret from me?"  Gabrielle asked. Her voice was light and teasing, but Xena looked abashed right away.  She rubbed her nose with her fist.    

            "It is not a secret," Xena said.

            "What'd she give you?" Gabrielle asked. 

            "I was going to tell you about it," Xena said. 

            "When?" Gabrielle asked.  She was not quite taking on Xena's serious edge, but now she was about ready to die of sheer curiosity. She couldn't imagine what Aphrodite possibly could have given Xena that would throw her off balance.

            "I hadn't found the right time," Xena said.

            "What is it?" Gabrielle asked.  She watched as Xena became decidedly awkward in her stance.  Xena reached over, then, quite blank-faced, to another saddle bag and pulled out a black box. 

            "Here," Xena said, handing it to Gabrielle, "See for yourself."

            "She seemed awfully excited about it," Gabrielle said, as she took the box and looked over it.  She fell silent upon seeing it covered in erotic engravings.  She looked over at Xena, who stood almost expressionless, pursing her lips.  Gabrielle raised her eyebrows, and Xena pressed her lips together harder and gave a terse grin.

            Gabrielle opened the box, looked in, and closed it.  She strained her jaw, as she turned her head to look at Xena. She felt herself let out a slight laugh from deep in her chest.  Xena cleared her throat in a nervous, steadying gesture, as Gabrielle took the elegant, black phallus from the box.  She expected to feel cold, hard marble when she touched it. But it was warm and almost soft to the touch.  She tried to guess what it was made from and could not recognize the material.  It was attached at the bottom to thin, soft straps that felt stronger than usual leather.  After thinking for a long moment, she realized they were for wearing it. She found herself both surprised and not surprised at once.  She looked it over for another long moment. 

            "So, do you want to try it?" Gabrielle asked.  Xena blinked once, hard.  Gabrielle got the sense that she was deeply surprised.  

            "You're serious?" Xena said. 

            "Yeah, why not?" Gabrielle said.  "I would try almost anything with you."

            "Really?" Xena said even more softly and more clearly surprised. She seemed lost in concentration. She looked a little overwhelmed.   

            "Yeah. What's the worst that could happen?" Gabrielle said and bumped her shoulder against Xena's. Xena made a light smile now. "I mean, we will be among friends." Xena laughed and lightened up more.

            "Could you just repeat that to me, if it remains true overtime?" Xena said. "I'm going to need to hear that one again." 

            "Absolutely," Gabrielle said.  Gabrielle put the box back together and put it into the saddle bag where it was before. She saw Xena trying to go back to her task from before, as she got Argo's brush from the saddlebags. She seemed distracted still.

            "Uh," Xena said, and she scratched at her neck nervously and made a gesture with her hand.  Gabrielle looked over at her and waited.  "Which… which way?" Xena said. 

            "Both ways," Gabrielle said with a shrug. 

            "Okay. Which one first?" Xena asked.

            "I'll wear it first," Gabrielle said easily.  She thought that was obvious.  Xena did not make any answer.

            Gabrielle took a closer look at Xena.  She was staring at the ground with her jaw held tense.  Gabrielle came over and got Xena by the hips and drew her in close to herself.  Xena smile at her in response. 

            "You're being remarkably casual about this," Xena said. 

            "You're being remarkably not casual about this," Gabrielle said.

            "Yeah, I guess that's true," Xena said.  She loosened her shoulders.  She was usually very calm and confident about all things related to sex, and she was amusing Gabrielle with her gravity now. 

            "Is it Aphrodite?" Gabrielle asked.  Xena did not trust Aphrodite entirely.  She held a deep skepticism for all the gods.

            "No, not really," Xena said. 

            "Have you been missing this kind of thing, since you've been with me?" Gabrielle asked.  She thought perhaps Aphrodite knew something about Xena that made Xena uncomfortable.

            "No," Xena said in a definitive tone.  "Have you?" Xena asked her curiously.  Gabrielle shrugged and gave a huff of laughter. She answered with complete honesty.

            "I can't say that I have, no.  I… kind of thought that was all sex was when I was young.  Well, that and kissing.  But then I was with you, which proved quite otherwise." Xena gave a genuine smile and lightened up more at this.  "My only time was that first time, and it was more painful than I expected," she said with a sort of shrug, "I guess I thought we'd get to the good stuff eventually.  But then with you, it was good right away.  I just kind of… forgot about it.  I wonder why Aphrodite felt motivated to give this to us."  She trailed off a moment, then asked frankly, "What's it like when it's good?"  Xena seemed less embarrassed and more perplexed as to how to answer.

            "It's good," Xena said with a shrug.  

            "Come on," Gabrielle said.  Xena already grimaced a little, knowing that her answer came out stale. Gabrielle tried to provoke her a little, which usually worked, by saying, "Better than what we do?" 

            "It's not _better,_ " Xena said, as she took the bait.  "Just different."  Gabrielle gave her a little grin. 

            "Different how?" Gabrielle prompted, unwilling to lose any momentum. She kept her eyes on Xena's face, not letting her off the hook. 

            "The feel of it," Xena explained.  Xena grew quiet, thinking.  Gabrielle could see, it was not so much the content of the conversation but the intimacy that was making her stall.  She struggled to put personal experiences into words, to share them with someone else.  It made her frustrated at times and edgy.  If Gabrielle didn't push her, she probably would never have shared vast portions of her life story.  Luckily, Gabrielle was both relentlessly curious and hard to dissuade. 

            "You're just being touched, inside, in every place at once," Xena said. "It's almost like an embrace. It makes it feel different. I'd say it allows you to feel more like you're being taken someplace, like there's more of an ability to surrender somehow.  Maybe not more, even, but different.  It's like being caught up on the swell of one heavy wave instead of several smaller ones. The pleasure rising up in this way that, well, it's just good when it's done right."

            "Done right, huh?" Gabrielle asked.  Xena started to brush Argo, as Gabrielle thought about this a little more.  She thought maybe she was being too cavalier.  "Am I going to hurt you, if I don't do it right?" 

            Xena was standing close to her and stopped in her task.  Agro gave a grumble at this.   Xena clearly felt surprised by this comment. She reached over to touch Gabrielle's shoulder. 

            "You won't hurt me," Xena said, "I promise.  We'll just take it slow.   And you can see how it feels for you." Gabrielle smiled in clear consent.

            "When are we going to do this?" Gabrielle said. 

            "Let's try it out the next time we're bunked up someplace safe," Xena said, as she went back to brushing Argo, who gave a nicker of satisfaction and tossed her mane.  "Otherwise, I might get too distracted to notice an army sneaking up on us."

            "That sounds good to me," Gabrielle said with a soft laugh.

 

            They did not meet with an opportunity to settle down anyplace for the next few weeks.  Finally, a series of harsh thunderstorms sent them to the country estate of an Athenian governor they had befriend some years before, after saving his son from being kidnapped and ransomed.  The family was away in the city, and only servants were in the main house.  The two of them were recognized and let in, and the harsh weather and calm of the grounds and surrounding area kept the two of them from getting much notice. 

            As always, on their first day there, they spent copious amounts of time heating water and taking baths, cooking and eating, and allowing themselves to draw away from their usual constant vigilance and absorb their full attention in one another.  They both knew they could easily spend hours and days in bed when they had nothing else to occupy their time, though life rarely afforded them the chance.  When they rain broke, they would probably feel compelled to leave within a day or two .  But for a few beautiful days, the rain held. 

            Gabrielle came in one night during a lull in the rain.  She found Xena standing near the window with the slats opened slightly.  She had followed her into the room after a bath.  She stopped to latch the door out of habit.  She felt herself smile at how dangerous Xena could look even standing naked, as she narrowed her eyes to peer out into the mist across the grounds.  She was looking and listening, and Gabrielle often felt that there was something else, too, something more.  She was actually reaching out beyond those senses and feeling what kinds of threats might come to them from a distance.  She must have found nothing troublesome, because Gabrielle noticed how her body and her gaze both softened, until it seemed that she was only looking out at the rainy sky and the beautiful stretch of fields drenched with water outside. She rarely got to see Xena like this, standing undefended.  She found the quality of her beauty could change and become different at different times, and now it felt softer, more humble somehow than usual.  She felt herself swallow as the feeling of warmth and an expanding sensation inside her chest grew so poignant that it felt almost like pain.  She crossed the room to come to Xena's side. 

            The smell of the rain on the fields made her close her eyes a moment and pay attention to this alone.  She placed her hands on Xena's waist and stood behind her, and Xena leaned back into her slightly.  All the world seemed simple in this moment, a place of peace and beauty. Xena's body felt the same, an instrument of destruction transformed into an instrument of pleasure. Gabrielle realized that her own body felt much like the fields outside, soaked through with nourishment and still ready to hold more.  The feeling made her long for a life she imagined they would never have, where days like this came in abundance.  The edge of her conflicted feelings wore away, as she tried to savor this moment. She wanted this life even more than wanted a life of peace. 

            After a moment, Xena turned to see Gabrielle's face.  She must have sensed that Gabrielle was done looking out herself and ready for her to close the slat.  She barred it into place, out of habit, as Gabrielle had with the door into the room.  Gabrielle felt herself smile, as Xena looked down at her lips. They'd spent most of the day in bed already, and they were moments from ending up there again. Somehow, Gabrielle imagined on days like this that the energy from their love making was not spent, but gathered itself instead over the day.  All of it seemed ready to flare up now, like a storehouse cultivated over the hours and ready at a moment's notice.  Gabrielle let her hand run down the side of Xena's neck and over her shoulder and arm.  She felt the faint hair on Xena's arm rise at the feel of her touch and smiled.

            "Do you want me to try Aphrodite's Gift on you?" Gabrielle said.

            "Yes," Xena said without a pause. 

            She bent a little bit lower and got her hands around Gabrielle's hips and lifted her into herself, as she kissed he deeply.  Gabrielle lost all her thoughts for a moment. Her body wanted to relax into Xena's and let her take the lead. 

            "You have to let me be more in the lead if you want to do that," Gabrielle said. 

            "Do I?" Xena asked. 

            She leaned back a little, so they could see one another more clearly. Gabrielle looked over Xena's face and touched the line of her jaw and ran her fingertips over Xena's lips. Xena closed her eyes and moved her face very slightly at the feel of Gabrielle's hand.  Gabrielle's thoughts seemed to sort themselves out more, and she felt a tiny thread of embarrassment.  She had some idea still of how sex was supposed to go between men and women, and it was floating up in her mind now. 

            "No, I guess not," Gabrielle said. 

            "However you want it," Xena said with a softest grin at one side of her mouth.

            She let Gabrielle down, slowly, as they continued to kiss. Eventually, Xena knelt herself down in front of Gabrielle.  She turned her face to the side and leaned into Gabrielle's stomach. 

            Gabrielle held Xena for a moment and felt the soft, smooth texture of her hair under her hand.  She reached down to tip Xena's face up again and leaned down to kiss her.  She held Xena's face in her hands, as she did. As she felt her tongue slip into Xena's mouth, she let herself think about what it might be like to be able to reach further into her body than she usually could.  She felt a tension of desire in her lower stomach. Xena knew her body so well, she could feel this.  She pressed her hands here and into the small of Gabrielle's back, as if to bring it up more fully.  Gabrielle pushed her hands into Xena's hair and kissed her harder. 

            "I'm going to get it," Gabrielle declared rather boldly.

            She saw Xena give a fuller grin with one side of her mouth. She sank back onto her heels to wait.  Gabrielle got the black box out of their bags.  She opened it and found it warmer and softer than she remembered.  She wondered what Aphrodite meant when she said it was "her best one" and what went into making them. She took only a moment to figure out how it worked, and she stepped into it.  She finally felt an edge of self-consciousness as she looked down at it.  The sight of her own breasts and stomach and the phallus beneath reminded her of a beautiful sculpture she had seen of Hermaphroditus asleep, one of the most beautiful works of art she had come across.  The idea made her pause for a moment and swallow hard. 

            She thought of herself then, as if in reaction to this, as some clumsy village boy about to make love to a warrior woman.  She tried not to remember own wedding night and felt these thoughts make her body feel weak in response.  Her hands grew shaky.  She ran her hands along the straps and brought back that first image to her mind again. She found herself strangely comforted in the moment by her felt sense of Aphrodite's competence. She would not lead Gabrielle astray, not on these grounds. 

            She turned to glance at Xena.  She saw her body shift heavily and her jaw held tense, as she watched Gabrielle and waited patiently for her to return.  She was not smiling now.  Her expression seemed entirely serious. Somehow, that look brought Gabrielle away from her insecure thoughts fully.  She could take herself seriously, especially if she knew that Xena could.  She came over and leaned down to kiss Xena again and felt her mouth open against her own right away.  She kissed her hard and with great passion already. 

            Gabrielle pulled Xena up, so that they could climb into the bed where they were sleeping, a thick mattress piled with blankets and cushions held on a low, solid wooden frame.  Xena climbed in ahead of her and stopped.  She was kneeling again and turned to kiss Gabrielle, who came in close behind her. As their mouths pressed deeply into one another's, Gabrielle put her arms all the way around Xena's body. She held her at first, then she ran her hands over her stomach and breasts.  She felt Xena grow heavy and still at the feel of this. When she let go, Xena took one long look at her face, then she leaned forward onto her hands and knees.

            Gabrielle came in close to her.  She held her own breath, she knew, as she positioned Aphrodite's Gift, leaning back to look down and see.  Then she pressed, slowly, into Xena for the first time.  She felt her own body grow tense as she did.  She actually blanched and shuddered a little, as Xena made a sound from deep in her body.  The sound gave Gabrielle a flicker of pain in her own body, felt in empathy. She put her hands to Xena's hips, holding her. 

            Gabrielle watched Xena sink down closer to the cushions beneath her and realized that she had misunderstood the sound. She could feel now, in Xena's body, that the moan was not of pain, but already one of pleasure.  She could feel that it came off her, almost it felt, in waves, though she held still inside her.  As Xena's weight sank down more into the mattress, her shoulder blades rose sharply in her back.  She was so beautiful that Gabrielle felt herself elated by the sight and felt almost as if she were soaring. 

            Xena held absolutely still.  She did not make a sound, and Gabrielle felt herself grow nervous again. She realized she could not easily tell what Xena was feeling from this position. 

            "Okay," Gabrielle said.  "Now, I am nervous."  She could see Xena's shoulders trembling and reached to touch along the edge of one of her shoulder blades with her fingertips.  Xena steadied herself a moment and reached back and put her hand on Gabrielle's hip. 

            "Don't be," Xena said.  She sounded almost breathless. "Here," Xena said.  She pulled away and turned over and reached to bring Gabrielle down over herself.  Gabrielle could feel the tension and desire in Xena's body, as she rolled herself over, and she could see it now held in her expression. So Gabrielle brought her knees in closer and pressed into Xena again, as Xena drew her down into an embrace. They kissed, and Gabrielle pressed into Xena and felt her draw her breath in deep in response.

            Gabrielle began ever so slightly to rock her hips.  Xena held her with one arm across her shoulders and reached one hand down to press into the small of her back and draw her into herself more fully.  Gabrielle kissed her neck and shoulder and kept her touch on Xena somewhat soft. Xena moaned again and shuddered beneath her. 

            After several more strokes, Xena gasped Gabrielle's name.  At this, a heat broke out in Gabrielle, licking through her, that she knew would cause her cheeks and chest to flush. She pressed her face into Xena's shoulder and felt Xena's hand come up the back of her neck and press into her hair. She felt her own reservation melt and her excitement grew almost wild in response, like a new fire coaxed to the point of taking on a life of its own.  She pressed her hands into the mattress lower down and moved in Xena a few more times, trying now to keep it long, slow, and even.  This seemed to intensify the experience for Xena, and she shuddered and moaned openly now. 

            She said Gabrielle's name again with a deep longing in her voice. Gabrielle sank down onto her elbows and felt a sound escape her own throat.  She drew as close to Xena as she could and pressed into her, knowing this was what she wanted.  Xena held onto Gabrielle's hips with both of her hands now.  Gabrielle reached down to drag Xena's knees up along her own body and pressed them against her own sides, as she pressed into her harder. 

            She leaned back eventually, so she could see Xena's face.  Xena's eyes were held closed, but she opened them and held Gabrielle's gaze for as long as she could.  Her eyes were heavy and her lips held parted. She put a hand to the back of Gabrielle's neck and drew her into a kiss.  Gabrielle had to remember to breath, when thoughts trickled back into her mind again.  She pressed hard, without any worry about hurting Xena or moving the wrong way now. She could almost feel what Xena wanted from her inside her own body.  Xena's lips broke from her own slightly, as she tried to hold onto their kiss, but was forced to make a cry.   

            After a while longer, Gabrielle held herself up higher on her arms. She felt that she could press harder into Xena this way.  She could also look down and see Xena's body, as her back arched and pressed her shoulders back into the bed.  The familiar sight spilled like cup of heated wine pouring through Gabrielle's chest, down into her stomach, as she watched Xena's hair slip back off her shoulders and hang down to the bed. 

            When she leaned down again, Gabrielle bit Xena's bottom lip softly. Xena gasped at the feel of this. She moved then to her earlobe, then her neck, and then her shoulder, feeling Xena tremble at the feel of her teeth, as they ran along the curves in each place.  She reached down and ran her fingernails heavily up one of Xena's thighs. This had even more than the expected affect.  Xena gasped and her back bent, arching her chest upward quite hard.  Gabrielle moved down to take advantage of this, as she brought her mouth to each of Xena's breasts.  Xena's hands on Gabrielle held her harder. She held her lips parted, as Gabrielle let go finally and came up to bite her lip again.   

            Xena broke their kiss finally. Gabrielle readily followed her lead, as Xena pressed one of Gabrielle's shoulders and shifted them, ready to climb on top of Gabrielle.  Gabrielle felt her heart rise up in excitement, and she turned along with Xena's movement and felt herself already making an eager smile.  Xena came over her and leaned all the way down to kiss her. Gabrielle scratched gently down her stretched back.  Xena let her face down beside Gabrielle's, as she pressed down onto her.  She braced herself with one hand over Gabrielle's shoulder and the other pressed in the middle of Gabrielle's chest. Gabrielle ran her hands over Xena's body and scratched down the length of her, and she pressed her shoulders to get her to lean back. 

            The pleasure of lying back and watching Xena, who sat over her now gave Gabrielle a distinct sense of growing dizzy, as if she were very drunk and still trying to keep up with a dance.  She tried to steady herself and breath more fully.  She ran her nails down Xena's tensed thighs and made her moan. She held Xena's hips and bent her own legs so she could press up into her.  Xena took advantage of this and leaned back some into Gabrielle's thighs. She moved her body fluidly along Aphrodite's Gift, as Gabrielle lay back in a sort of stupor of ecstasy and witnessed her. 

            Gabrielle reached between Xena's legs.  She felt carefully for the place she wanted to find and had to turn her hand over the other way to keep from straining her wrist and come up onto her elbow to find the right place.  She rubbed carefully and felt Xena give an almost strained cry, as she tried to tolerate the feel of this.  Gabrielle leaned up, finally, bracing herself in the position by her own strength, so she could get one arm around Xena's waist, as she touched her. 

            She felt Xena's whole body come up into a state of almost shuddering sensitivity, before she finally felt her breath catch and knew that she would be overcome with pleasure.  She pulled her down by the waist and pressed into her, as she rubbed harder with her hand. Xena's cries made her close her eyes and press the side of her face into Xena, as Xena clutched at her back and finished slowly, tolerating more pleasure than Gabrielle could even hold in her awareness in such a state.  When they finally stopped moving, Gabrielle felt her own body shaking, and felt as if Xena's pleasure had moved through herself, as well.

            Xena's hand came to Gabrielle's shoulder.  Gabrielle took her hand away and leaned back onto her hands, as Xena reached down to put her hands on the sides of Gabrielle's face and drew her into a kiss.  She pressed her chest to get her to lay back again.  Gabrielle lay back, and Xena brought herself down for a while, then she drew herself up and off of her.  She moved over to lay beside Gabrielle. 

            Gabrielle looked down and reached to feel Aphrodite's gift again. She did not find herself surprised this time that it felt almost hot under her touch, as hot as the desire that burned low in her own stomach and rose up into her chest.  She could almost sense now, with her body feeling so open and receptive, how it held a charge that reminded her of being in the midst of ancient ruins that spoke of powers born long before the gods.

            She nearly laughed now as she thought of the moment when she compared herself in her mind before to an clumsy village boy.  She felt herself draw in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She tried to be gentle with herself for imagining herself to be still shaped by the ideas and desires that had defined her and shaped her experiences in the past.  Those did not define her now.  She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of Xena's voice. 

            "You know," Xena said, "Maybe I shouldn't give Aphrodite such a hard time."  Gabrielle laughed at this and felt herself grin.  She had been saying this for years with no results.    

            "She's pretty lost on most things," Gabrielle said, "But she knows her stuff." 

            "And she is clearly on our side," Xena said. 

            "Undoubtedly," Gabrielle said definitively. 


End file.
